As a mama to six (barely) under ten, I get weary. Like, fall asleep in the middle of praying at bedtime weary. It’s not that my life is so very hard. It isn’t. I don’t wash our clothes by hand or fetch our water from the river several miles away (both of which my Ugandan friends have to do). I cook dinner most nights, but if I ever don’t feel up for it, I only have to drive a few miles and pick up something already made for me.
My children are sweet and helpful. I genuinely like as well as love them.
But the list of daily tasks is literally never-ending. I never ever get every last thing checked off.
I know yours is too.
It’s the nature of this earthly, toil-filled life. Even if we don’t have to grow every morsel of food we consume, we do have to grocery-shop. Which takes time. So does potty-training and vacuuming and laundry sorting and soccer practice and homeschooling and having meaningful conversations with your teen.
Which is why I feel like I need to tattoo Galatians 6:9 backwards on my forehead so that every time I look in the mirror and notice the dark circles under my eyes and new lines between my brows, I’ll also see these words:
This is seriously my mantra, y’all. “Do not grow weary of doing good.”
Why?
Because, at the proper time, I will reap a harvest IF I DO NOT GIVE UP.
(I don’t know about you, but if all it said was: “Do not grow weary of doing good…just because,” I don’t think I’d be nearly as into it)
This is what I clung to when Ezra constipated himself (which transformed his sunny disposition into that of a crotchety 85-year-old with hemorrhoids) to avoid potty-training for an entire year. And then when he spent years 5-7 melting down over, well, most things. It was my saving grace throughout weeks of waking up 5 times a night to feed twins. And then again when those same twins decided to make car rides moderately torturous experiences for the last year (although, we seem to be mostly out of the woods). It’s my lifeline every time I’m 39 weeks pregnant and fully aware that I probably still have 3 weeks to go.
And you know what? It is absolute, God-given truth. I have yet to be disappointed with the harvest of persevering in “doing good” with these short-term “trials.”
Ezra eventually potty-trained…and stopped being so dramatic (he’s a lovely, level-headed, considerate, kind almost-10-year-old now, who folds laundry cheerfully instead of prostrating himself on the ground with weeping and gnashing of teeth. Hallelujah!). The twins eventually slept through the night and haven’t had a full on tandem car tantrum in several months. And somewhere between 41 and 42 weeks, I finally get a baby to snuggle.
I could give you other examples, but suffice it to say that the harvest has been all the sweeter for the struggle (however mild) that preceded it.
I’m so grateful for these little rewards since there are plenty of other things the Lord and I are still plugging away at, which have yet to reveal their harvest.
And praise God that the whole “do not grow weary” part has pretty much nothing to do with feelings. Will I feel weary? Yes. Exhausted? Yup. Despondent? Sometimes.
But if I do not give up, regardless of how I feel, I will receive a harvest at the proper time–even if it’s not the one that I think I should get or in the time frame I was hoping for.
I hope this encourages you as much as it does me.
It’s hardly a magic formula or a carte blanche of “happiness” (because, again, notice it says nothing about how you will feel during this process of perseverance). But it is a promise. And, as Psalm 145:13 says: “Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures through all generations. The LORD is trustworthy in all he promises and faithful in all he does.”
Lindsay and I have been wanting to create a print with this verse on it for ages, but…see above about having trouble checking everything off the list.
We’re so glad we managed to get it knocked out before Mother’s Day, though.
Maybe you or a mama you know need this encouragement in your lives?
We just released it today, and now through Sunday, you’ll receive a FREE 5X7 of your choice with the purchase of our “Do Not Grow Weary” print in an 8X10 or larger.
(Just be sure to specify which 5X7 you want in the notes at checkout)
Has this verse proved true in your life too? I’d love to hear about the harvests you’ve seen so far…
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(Although, if we’re talking about favorite interpretations, I’ll take Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy over Matthew Macfadyen any day).
